renders black

[office6PUWT]

Whilst I was having some level of success with my active shade renders my productions ones are just black. I found a potential fix on the forum but cannot see Effects tab within the render set up window. Is there a step by step guide I can follow to produce a basic production render to get me started? see attached pic for outline of situation...

all best

Luke

[Diffus3d · Accepted solution]

Hello @office6PUWT ,

You can find the effects window on the Rendering Tab, but that article has an error or two. It's not the effects window you want, it's the exposure control window.    

It shows:  Rendering > Render Setup > Effects > Photographic exposure

It means:  Rendering menu -> Exposure Control.   Ignore the Render Setup -> Effects because as you've noted you won't find it there.   I'm guessing it's simply an error that was never reported.  

Rendering is a big subject and there's a lot to learn.  It could be any number of things but I'd start the guessing in this order:

1) Exposure settings.  (The path you are on, can also be set on camera rather than exposure control menu for some renderers.)  

2) Make sure lights are supported.  (from screenshot it seems so.)

Best Regards,

[office6PUWT]

Thanks this is a start for me. I've been working with simpler test scenes and having the expected results. Did I mention that my file size is nearly 800MB! This is huge yes even for max? I've been looking at a couple of script based compressors like FileFix and LZ with a view to reducing this. Assuming this will help rendering is correct yes?

many thanks

Luke

[CiroCardoso3v · Accepted solution]

Make sure you update Arnold. You are using version 4.0 and we already have a 4.3.

The size of the file isn't an issue for Arnold. If you are new to Arnold, you may want to check these Intros to Arnold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEnTb6QnD4

And

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgbCcZ5rVsKWu-i_enPOgpA/videos

[office6PUWT]

I've been able to get good results in simple test scenes but my GU file is nearly 800MB in size. Although I've been told by the autodesk forum that file size does not affect render speed I'm just not getting anything out of arnold for my GU scene. My laptop in 16GB would a 32GB one make a difference or not really with such a huge file? Totally stuck and can;t move forward until I solve this issue.cheers Luke

[CiroCardoso3v]

Any chance you can share that scene for me to check? It will be easier instead of the constant back and forward. If not, save a log for us to see what is making your render going black.  

https://docs.arnoldrenderer.com/display/A5AF3DSUG/Log

[office6PUWT]

Thanks so much, I'd be really grateful if you can help me get ahead on this as it's part of a graded unit for my degree course due in on the 14th. I've attached a link to the file below for you. I'm running 3ds max on a boorleg partitioned macbook pro i7 core 16MB ram although I do actually have the option of getting an ASUS zenbook pro i9 32 GB as I've been saving up. Would this solve this and any potential issues I'm having with files this size which could become a regular thing for me. Or could I just stay as I am and be patient when it comes to rendering. I don't any point in spending more money to shave a few seconds of my rendering time but will do so if the production rendering won't work at all on my current bootleg set up.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gb08nvkb0rr26kz/Isos%20render%20and%20animation6.max?dl=0

all best

Luke

[CiroCardoso3v]

Ok, so I opened your scene. Open Arnold Render View, press render and it starts rendering (although there are some textures missing, but that is ok) and I render in Production and it was fine as well. So, when you press render, the render finishes and is black? Or is taking to long to start rendering?

A couple of things you can do.

1 - I would merge the scene into a new one, just to have a fresh start. 

2 - You can replace the Physical Camera Exposure Control with Arnold Imagers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJ7B5lb-C8

3 - You are using a HDRI map. Apply that to a Skydome, so that you can apply portal lights to those windows.

4 - As an alternative, I would delete some of the walls so more light gets inside? I think you would have a better result. If I have time later, I can do a setup like that for you.

5 - The interior light needs some samples. The same for the skydome.

6 - Make sure in Textures - Use Existing TX textures and Auto-Convert Textures - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srOU-F0_PGI

See if that helps.

[office6PUWT]

Hi there,

Thanks again for helping out with this...

1 - I have merged the scene into a new one. 

2 - Could not access the Arnold Imagers as for some reason the Arnold Render View tab is not in my Arnold Menu drop down? I updated Arnold to the latest version but this is still the case.

3 - I applied an HDRI map to a Skydome light and applied 5 portal lights to the windows.

4 - I currently can't would delete some walls without loosing the parts that appear in the shot but I can use the animation to 140 sec to partially open the door. so more light gets inside.

If you could do a setup that we know works for you then I can see if the problem is my mac book not coping with the job. I am in a position to get a 32MB i9 core ASUS machine if you think it's necessary.

5 - Will look into samples re the interior and skydome as I'm not familiar with this term.

6 - Ditto TX textures and Auto-Convert Textures - will watch the vid now.

Updated version of the file is in the same drop box folder for you in the event that you can get it working and share back.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6kzk4rstghzg9lt/AADjwDbXtZAA-dRQllxJXgcRa?dl=0

Re your question, Looking the system info below the bottom right corner of the viewport(s) I gives a render time of 20 secs. This may be that the render has finished after 20 secs or the render has not yet started, as far as I can see there is not way to discern this. How long did it take your machine to render the image? This will give me some idea of how long to leave the black screen before concluding that the render has completed.

very best

Luke

many thanks

- 

[office6PUWT]

yep, pretty sure the rendering process is just stopping after 0.26 secs. see attached pic.

all best

Luke

[office6PUWT]

Hi there just wondering if you where able to render the updated version from the dropbox folder or if I'm going to need  to buy a new laptop?

[CiroCardoso3v]

Ok, I think the issues you are having aren't necessarily related to Arnold. The Arnold Render View not appearing means something is broken. And yes, your render just stopped, so that means something is broken. One thing you can try really quick is turn off this option and render it again

Would also be beneficial to jump to Arnold Answers, where the developers can provide better support related to the missing menu.

[michaelRFRTW]

Hello! I have the same problem : 3D Studio Max 2024 . When I click to render it is come up black...

I am not very familiar with this Arnold : the previews version was more easy with out Arnold!

Thank you!